Making a rod for his own back; Scottish Labour Party are very angry about Corbyn-backed alternative Labour conference after inviting Rise Candidate Cat Boyd to speak, momentum doesn’t impress me by their actions and Jeremy Corbyn shouldn’t be alienating Scottish Labour, because it is they who are key to securing any chance of him becoming Prime Minister

Dear All

As a Labour member, I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn because he is the change that Labour members want and the country needs at this time.

I will not be even considering voting for Owen Smith.

I think it is safe to say that many people don’t like the way that Jeremy Corbyn has been treated by the PLP or those who sought to undermine his leadership elsewhere in the party.

In the last leadership contest, out of the four candidates standing, I ranked Corbyn the best person out of the four standing.

The idea of the three winning wasn’t appealing to me at all.

Jeremy Corbyn hasn’t had a fair crack of the whip as leader, I don’t agree with all his policies and some elements of his past that he associated with.

What I object to is people standing against him who say that they want the working class to vote Labour so they can carry on with the same policies of the Conservatives which benefit the middle class at the expense of the poor and vulnerable.

If I want to vote for a Conservative candidate, I would rather vote for one in the Conservative Party not one wearing the clothes of the Labour Party and claiming to be a socialist when they clearly are not, by deed, word and actions!

I see Momentum, the controversial pro-Corbyn left-wing group, and don’t see any reason to join them, I voted for the six pro Corbyn candidates not because I wanted momentum in power but because certain people on the Labour NEC were acting disgracefully.

The Labour Party has factions, one is Momentum and the other is Progress, personally I don’t the idea of parties within parties because they are always set up to exclude.

As a Labour member, I object to Cat Boyd, the Rise candidate being invited to speak at Corbyn-backed alternative Labour conference. Cat Boyd stood against Labour as a Rise candidate at this year's Holyrood elections, she had no chance despite massive exposure in the media and came nowhere near getting a seat.

It is counterproductive to have a parallel conference running at the same time as the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool, it sends out the wrong message, and it gives those opposed to Jeremy Corbyn ammunition to use against him.

Jeremy Corbyn should also have not endorsed the ‘alternative’ Labour conference either, he will win the leadership contest swept in on a wave of popularity but popularity doesn’t last. Jeremy has one election in him to prove himself, in reality I see him as a caretaker leader to usher in a return to old Labour values which was ignored in favour of NeoLiberalism which has punished the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

As a Labour member, I wouldn’t be supporting the ‘alternative’ Labour Conference and would urge Labour members to boycott it. I also think it shows a level of stupidity in the momentum camp that they organised this in the first place and then had the bad judgment compounded by inviting someone such as Cat Boyd.

A Scottish Labour source said:

"It is bad enough that Jeremy Corbyn is supporting a rival conference at the same time as our annual conference, but inviting our political opponents to share a platform is completely unacceptable. Cat Boyd and Rise stood against Labour Party candidates this year and campaigned against us. Labour activists in Scotland will be baffled that Momentum see our opponents as allies. Coming so soon after (new shadow Scottish Secretary) Dave Anderson's comments about doing a deal with the SNP, this shows that Jeremy Corbyn and his allies have no idea how to effectively build a strong Labour Party in Scotland."

Jeremy Corbyn needs Scottish Labour to re-invent itself to get those Westminster seats, but at present a few things have and will be causing disconnect between the party down south and north of the border. Appointing Labour MP Dave Anderson as shadow Scottish Secretary was a major mistake, his comments on deals with the SNP bombed in Scotland.

If Jeremy Corbyn alienates Scottish Labour, he has no chance of winning a general election; he needs to build bridges not put up barriers.

One thing about this Labour leadership contest is this, it solves nothing, no one standing is the ‘unity’ candidate, and I see more leadership challenges coming from the Parliamentary Labour Party in the future.

I don’t know who Jeremey Corbyn’s advisors are but they are doing a pretty good job of handing out really bad advice to him.

Jeremy Corbyn needs this message rammed home to him, you are NOT a protesting opposition MP on the backbenches anymore, you are the leader of the Labour Party, it is time to adopt a different mindset.

Yours sincerely

George Laird

The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University